My gaze swam for a moment and then focused on his. His hair and clothes were wet from the rain, and water was streaming through the broken window. Both mine and Randy’s were shattered.
Despite the chaos all around us, there was a sweet pinch in my heart at seeing him. Declan was here, which meant everything was okay.
Declan reached in as far as he could with the other car wedged against us. “Royal, I need you to answer me. I need to know that you’re okay?”
My mouth opened slowly, but I managed to nod. “Yes, I’m okay. Randy—”
“I’m here,” he said. “I’m…stuck.”
In the distance, I heard sirens. It was enough to make me focus, to realize what had happened. We’d been hit by a car coming from the opposite direction, but the SUV that had been following us had smashed us from behind.
I tried to turn in my seat to see who it was, or if they were hurt, but the seatbelt held me too tight.
“They’re still back there,” I told Declan, panic rising again.
“It’s okay,” he soothed, easing back to get a better look at the door and the car against it. “The police are on their way.”
“Royal,” Randy said from up front. “Are you hurt?”
“I—” Pain shot down my arm when I tried to lean forward, and I could hardly take a full breath. “I’m okay. Are you?”
“I hit my head. And this airbag…”
More water streamed through the window until Declan peered back in.
“Help Randy,” I said pointing.
“The car is wedged too tight to get the door open.” He lowered his voice. “I’m going to move it. Just…hold on.”
I glanced to the other side of the SUV and saw this was probably the best bet. We were stuck between the guardrail and the car.
Declan glanced behind him, appearing to look around to see who was close by. Then he bent down and shoved the front of the other car, moving it away from ours. It made a horrible screeching sound, but in the blink of an eye, Declan was able to step directly up to my window.
With wide eyes, I shook my head at him. “Declan,” I whispered, my heart clutching.
He reached inside and touched my cheek. “No one saw me. I’m getting you out of here.”
I started to shake my head, but then I heard another noise. It sounded like a car door opening. I gasped, trying to turn to see the car behind us. Declan whipped around, putting his body between my door and whoever was stepping out.
I peered through the window, blinking a few times through the rain before I saw the figure of a man. I expected Declan’s father, but instead, it was a man I didn’t recognize.
“Johnson,” I heard Declan murmur. His voice was like steel, dark and angry. “You did this?”
The man grasped his side just as I put the pieces together. It was Maggie’s father, Cole Johnson. He was the one behind this.
“I can’t let our secret get out,” Johnson said, and then sunk to his knees on the pavement.
“Don’t you ever come near Royal again, or I will kill you myself.”
The man slumped against the car, and Declan turned his attention back to me. “It’s okay,” he whispered, touching my cheek again. “It’s over, okay? You’re safe.”
Behind him, I saw the swirl of lights and the blur of emergency vehicles as they approached.
I sagged in my seat, trying to calm my racing heart. “Randy? How are you doing up there?” I asked.
“Well, I’m pretty sure something is broken. Maybe more than one thing? I don’t know. My wife would know, she knows everything,” he mumbled.
“I think he hit his head,” I told Declan.
Declan gripped the doorframe, looking like he was going to rip it right off the hinges.
I shook my head and then closed my eyes when the world spun around me. “I don’t think you should do that…”
“Did you hit your head?” Declan asked.
“Excuse me, sir. Were you in one of the vehicles?” a policeman asked. A paramedic stood behind him, trying to push his way through to get to us.
As they spoke, I leaned back in the seat, grateful Declan hadn’t done anything reckless. The way he looked when he walked up to the car, he could have done anything. He was a man desperate to do what was necessary to get to the woman he loved.
At that moment, all I could think was how much I needed him. And there were so many things I wanted to tell him, like how much I loved him. I tried to sit forward on the seat, and the seatbelt stopped me again. I gasped at the pain in my chest.
“Royal,” Declan growled, pushing past the paramedic to lean into my window once more.
“Sir, I’m going to need you to stand to the side,” the policeman said.
“It’s okay,” I told the policeman with a smile. “He’s my boyfriend. I love him.”
Declan’s gaze snapped to mine, his eyes full of wonder. His lips were parted slightly like he couldn’t believe what he had just heard. And then his eyes narrowed as he scanned my features and my head, where I could feel a trickle of blood coming down.
Crap. He probably thought I was babbling because of my injuries.
The world swam around me again, and I became acutely aware of the pain in my chest and my left arm. Aware of the rain pouring through the window and the soft groans Randy kept giving from up front.
Then nausea crept up, and I told the policeman, “I don’t feel so good.”
Declan’s anxious face swam in and out of focus, and then I passed out.
#
I woke to the beep of machines in a dim room under a pile of
